It's not clear why Apple can't give everyone who wants one a gold iPhone. Officially, online orders with Apple won't be fulfilled until October. We noted over the weekend that the gold iPhone never actually existed in some stores, countries, and among some wireless carriers. The flagship Apple Store in San Francisco, for instance, only ever had 20 gold iPhones.

In China, a gold iPhone on the "gray market" will cost you the equivalent of $1,634, about twice the price of retail. Scalpers were buying gold iPhones in Hong Kong on the day of sale for US$1,161, still more than the $721 original price tag.

Lastly, a company called Gold Genie is selling a real gold-plated version of the iPhone starting at $2,850. An actual iPhone 5S isn't actually gold, of course. It's colored aluminum. Gold Genie's version is actual gold plate: